Station-signal.



No. 780,852. PATENTED JAN. 24, 1905.,

J. L. WRENN.

STATION SIGNAL.

APPLIOATIGN FILED NOV. 24, 1903.

2 SHEETS-8KBET 1..

p m T 3 7 b x +y P I 'fizz/erolim PATBNTED JAN. 24, 1905.

J. L. WRENN.

STATION SIGNAL.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 24, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 780,852. Patented January 24, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JOHN L. VVRENN, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALF TO JOHN C. PENNIE AND JOHN A. GOLDSBOROUGH, OF WASHINGTON,DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

STATION-"SIGNALu SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO.780,852, dated January 24, 1905.

Application filed November 24, 1903. Serial No. 182,4:52x

T 667/ whom it y 007M677 past the bar when the latter has been advancedBe it known that I, JOHN L. l/VRENN, a citi sufiiciently to close saidswitch and permit Zen of the United States, residingin IVashingthe leverend to pass as rod returns to norton, District of Columbia, haveinvented cermal position. The lever 1 is connected by a 5 5 tain new anduseful Improvements in Stationpin 0' and slot .2 to a pull-rod (1;,sliding in Signals; and I do hereby declare the following suitableguidc-brackets,and is normally drawn to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the upward by a spring a.

invention, such as will enable others skilled in Connected to the latchZ; by means of a pin the art to which it apperta ins to make and andslot is a pivoted bell-crank m, which is IO use the same. normallylifted by a spring a attached to an My invention relates to railwaystation adjustable screw a by means of which the signals, and has forits object to provide a tension of said spring and accordingly thesignaling apparatus that may be actuated by force tending to hold saidlatch 7'; in locking a prospective passenger to set a signal for anposition is regulated.

I5 approaching car, which signal will be main- Mounted in anangle-bracketp and a beartained for a predetermined period and thening-block g) in the box or casing is a horizonwill be automaticallywithdrawn or discontal shaft 0, to which is secured a sand-glass tinuedthrough the agency of a time mechanapparatus consisting of twocylindrical coneism set in operation as the switch is closed. endedvessels a "a, connected by a constricted 5 20 The invention 1slllu'strated 1n the accomtubular neck, each of said vessels having apanying drawings, in which telescopmg bottom o sliding within the cylin-Figure l is a diagrammatic view of my imdrical portion thereof andnormally drawn proved station-signaling apparatus, the timwithin thesame by a spring 20. Secured to ing device being shown in partialsection. the shaft 0 is a disk or wheel 9, from one face 5 Fig. 2 is avertical section through a signalof which project four studs or pins 0',spaced box containing the signal-controlling mcchat quadrant distanceapartabout the periphery anism. of said disk. Pivoted upon pull-rod a;in po- Referring to the drawings, a represents a sition to cooperatewith adjacent studs 1' 9* on sliding bar which is providedwithabridgingthe wheel 7 as said rod is pulled down are 3 contact 6,said contact being adapted to 0011- two pawls b 6', held normally inhorizontal nect two stationary contacts 0 (Z, and thereby position bylight springs c 0, said pawls beclose an electric circuitf from atrolley-wire, ing capable of movement on their pivots in a feed wire, orother source of electricity downward direction against the tension ofthe through a group of lamps t' or other suitable springs c 0, but beingheld from upward 8O 3 5 signal device. Said bar a is normally removement from the horizontal by angularlytracted to open the circuit atthe contacts be projecting tails or lugs, which engage the (Z by meansof a spring d, and when the bar supporting-face of pull-rod has beenadvanced to close the circuit a slid- The operating mechanism ispreferably ing latch 70 engages a notch Z in said bar to mounted in abox or casing attached to a pole 5 4 lock the latter and hold the switchin closed or other support adjacent to the station or position. stoppingplace. Pull-rod to projects through The bar a is preferably advanced toclose the bottom of the box within easy reach of the switch by means ofa rock-lever y, pivoted the operator, and the lamp-cluster or otheradjacent to its lower end and having a hinged signal device may bemounted within the box 9 .5 end 2 cooperating with a rounded corner 3'or or at any point on the outside, as desired.

the bar to permit the end of the lever to slide The circuit of course isnormally broken at the switch-contacts when no signal is displayed. henan intending passenger wishes to signal an approaching car, he graspsthe pendent handle of bar a; and pulls it down- /5"ward, whereupon thelower lever y is rocked upon its pivot and its end .2- engages theadjacent end of slide-bar a and lifts said bar until bridging-contact Z)engages the fixed contacts 0 (Z, closes the circuit, and lights thelamps At this time latch/e, under the influence of bellcrank m andspring a, enters notch Z in bar a and holds the latter in lockedposition, and the end of lever y slides past the end j of said bar a.The downward movement of bar 02 causes the lower pawl 7/ to engage theadjacent pin 0 on wheel (1 and turns shaft 0 and the connectedsand-glass about one-quarter of a revolution. The upper pawl b thencomes into engagement with the succeeding pin 0' and turns thesand-glass device another quarter revolution, so that the empty half ofsaid sandglass is brought over the end of bellcrank m and the sectioncontaining the sand or other mobile granules is carried to the top andthe sand begins to run out of the top section into the lower section.l/Vhen the pullrod 0 is released, it is immediately retracted by springa, the pawls p are turned down as they pass the pins 7* next above themon the wheel 5 and immediately assume a horizontal position for asubsequent operation, as indicated, while wheel Q is held from abackward or reverse turning movement by a pawl .9 engaging one of thenotches t in the edge of said wheel. As the sand flows into the lowerhalf of the sand-glass and forces, the telescoping bottom sectionthereof downward into engagement with a laterally-projecting tubular endof bell-crank 722, when suflicient sand has accumulated in the lowerportion of the sandglass to overcome the tension of spring a thebell-crank is rocked on its pivotand withdraws bolt Z; from engagementwith bar a, which is instantly drawn downward by spring (Z, therebybreaking the circuit at contacts 0 and (Z and discontinuing the signalwithout any arcing at the separated terminals. The apparatus is then incondition for a subsequent operation to establish a signal for the nextcar.

It is to be observed that the apparatus is exceedingly simple inconstruction and mode of operation and when the signal is set by thepassenger it requires no further attention, but is automaticallydiscontinued after a predetermined interval by the time mechanism. Byregulating the tension of the spring n the length of time which thesignal is displayed may be varied to suit the running schedule of thecars.

\Vhile I have describeda particular form of time mechanism fordiscontinuing the signal, it is to be understood that my invention isnot limited thereto, but other forms of timing devices may be employedwith good results. Also the form and arrangement of my switchoperatingmechanism may be varied without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure,is-

1. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated there by, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, a lock for holding said switch in closed position, a timemechanism cooperating with the lock to release the switch after apredetermined interval, means for actuating said switch to close thecircuit, and mechanism cooperating with said switch-actuating means forsetting said time mechanism.

2. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, a lock for holding the switch in closed position, a timemechanism cooperating with the lock to release the switch after apredetermined interval, and manually-actuated means for simultaneouslyclosing the switch and setting the time mechanism.

3. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, a sand-glass mechanism for discon tinuing the signal after apredetermined interval, means for actuating said switch to close thecircuit, and mechanism cooperating with said switch-actuating means forreversing the sand-glass.

4. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, a sand-glass mechanism for discontinuing the signal after apredetermined interval, and means carried by the switcho1')eratingmechanism for reversing said sand-glass.

5. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, means for normally opening said switch, manually-operatedmeans for closing said switch, a lock to hold said switch in closedposition, and a time mechanism to release the lock and discontinue thesignal after a predetermined interval.

6. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit to operatethe signal, means for normally opening said switch, manually-operatedmeans for closing said switch, a lock to hold said switch in closedposition, a rotatory sand glass cooperating with said lock to releasethe same after a predetermined interval, and mechanism connected withthe switch-closing means to rotate the sand-glass when said closingmeans is operated.

- 7. A station signaling apparatus, comprising an electric circuit, asignal operated thereby, a switch for closing said circuit, means fornormally opening said switch, a lock to hold said switch in closedposition, a pull-rod for closing said switch, a rotatory sand-glass fortripping the lock to release the switch, and pawl-and-ratchet mechanismconnecting the pull-rod and the sand-glass to rotate the latter throughone hundred and eighty degrees when the pull-rod is operated to closethe switch. 10 In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN L. WREN N W'itnesses:

WILLIAM V. OONNER, CHAs. J. ONEILL.

